Anthony’s take: Tyler Seguin’s highly anticipated rookie season was an up and down one for the 19-year-old. Seguin clearly struggled making the transition to the NHL level. The biggest concern was his play in the defensive end. With the game getting faster, and the players bigger, it’s easy to understand why Seguin struggled.

Despite just 22 points (11 goals) in 74 regular season games, Seguin showed the Bruins some positives, and just what type of player he could be. Seguin’s tremendous speed and quick hands show that Seguin can handle himself in the NHL, as long as he gets stronger and tougher.

After being the healthy scratch for the Bruins first two playoff series, Seguin filled in for the injured Patrice Bergeron during the Eastern Conference Finals. Seguin notched 6 points (3 goals) in his first two career playoff games, then went on to add just one more point throughout the rest of the playoffs.

Final grade: C+

Marino’s grade: The two things that stand-out to me about Seguin from beginning to end of his rookie season: 1. Has been his maturity throughout the year. He came into a hockey town with enormous expectations, failed to live up to those unfair comparisons and projections early on, but kept his head-up — taking his healthy scratches, constructive in-game criticisms, and frequent benchings like a true pro. He said all the right things when the microphones were in his face, and certainly learned the ropes from some of NHL’s best. He credited Shawn Thonrton in particular, during the Tampa Bay series, as the one player whose words of wisdom really hit home about his daily scratches in the previous series.

2. His improvement: He looked similar to a deer in headlights in the early stages of his rookie campaign. Once the big man on campus, Seguin had to adjust to the big size and physical changes from Juniors to the NHL level, as well as the speed and skill levels of each opposing player. His progression from a kid who didn’t know the meanings of backchecking and ‘taking the body’ to a more than serviceable forward on a Stanley Cup winning team we glaringly obvious.